Zephyr: a mini supercomputer inspired by EPCC's Wee Archie

^{Image above shows Christodoulos Stylianou with Zephyr at a science festival.}

In the rapidly evolving world of supercomputing, the ability to simplify and demystify this technology for educational purposes presents a unique set of challenges and opportunities. Our latest endeavour, the Zephyr mini-supercomputer, is a testament to how collaboration and open source technology can lead to extraordinary educational tools. 

Zephyr was inspired and informed by EPCC's Wee Archie, a pioneering mini-cluster that has significantly influenced our project. In other words, Zephyr is the younger sibling of Wee Archie. It is based at CaStoRC of The Cyprus Institute (CyI) and part of the National Competence Center (NCC) in High-Performance Computing (HPC) within the EuroCC2 project.

Zephyr is designed as an educational tool that doubles as a functioning model of a supercomputer aiming to demystify the complex world of supercomputing to people of all ages and backgrounds. It runs interactive applications such as the ‘Design an Aerofoil’ game, developed by EPCC, which simulates real-world problem-solving scenarios. These applications are excellent for demonstrating the capabilities of supercomputers in performing complex computations and simulations, thereby making high-level technology accessible and comprehensible to individuals of all ages. Through these engagements, Zephyr fulfils its role as both a teaching tool and a demonstration model, showcasing practical applications of computational science and encouraging interactive learning.

Blueprint for success

The journey began with Wee Archie, EPCC's innovative approach to a portable supercomputer, which provided us with a valuable blueprint for setting up our own mini-cluster. Wee Archie’s practical design and operational framework offered us insights into the efficient arrangement of nodes and the integration of hardware necessary to mimic the capabilities of a full-scale supercomputer on a much smaller scale.

One of the key aspects we replicated from Wee Archie was the set-up of the nodes. Understanding the interconnectivity and functionality of these nodes in Wee Archie enabled us to streamline our build process, ensuring Zephyr was both powerful and efficient. Additionally, the choice of LED screens, which play a crucial role in providing visual feedback and status updates from the mini-supercomputer, was influenced by the types implemented in Wee Archie.

The final form of Zephyr uses 18 interconnected Raspberry Pi 4B (4GB) boards, divided into two head and 16 compute nodes, all housed within a specially designed clear Perspex case. The connectivity among the nodes is established via Ethernet cables connected to three switches, forming a hierarchical network that allows the nodes to communicate and share data, similar to a supercomputer’s interconnect. The nodes are equipped with coloured LED lights programmed to indicate various operational statuses, including CPU core usage and metrics like memory and temperature. These LEDs not only add to the aesthetic appeal but also provide immediate visual feedback of the system’s operation, enhancing the educational value by showing real-time data processing loads.

Leveraging open source for innovation

Perhaps the most significant contribution from EPCC was the access to open source software, which has been pivotal in the development of Zephyr. Utilising tools such as the aerofoil demo, the LED Server, and the LED Status code not only facilitated a smoother developmental process but also enhanced the educational value of Zephyr. These software components allowed us to create interactive and engaging demonstrations, which are essential for educational environments like school fairs and university open days.

The aerofoil demo has been a cornerstone of our demonstrations, allowing users to explore aerodynamics concepts through an intuitive and interactive interface. This demo has made Zephyr not just a tool for demonstration but a platform for immersive learning.

The open-source nature of Wee Archie’s software embodies the spirit of community and the shared goal of advancing educational technology. By building on EPCC's open source contributions, we have been able to customise and extend the functionality of Zephyr to better meet our specific outreach and educational goals.

Zephyr was officially launched in Cyprus, on the 17^th April 2024. Since then, it has attended a Science Fair (sCYence Fair 2024), the largest tech and entrepreneurship festival (Reflect 2024) in Cyprus, and the Youth Makers Fair 2024 ( see blogpost). Within the first three months of its operation, Zephyr demystified the complexities of high performance computing to a wide range of people from all ages, ranging from kids to senior adults.

Looking forward

As we continue to develop and expand Zephyr's capabilities, the lessons learned from EPCC's Wee Archie remain at the core of our project. We are committed to fostering an environment where high performance computing is accessible to learners of all ages, encouraging them to explore and understand the powerful technology that shapes our world.

Our collaboration with EPCC and the use of open source software exemplify how partnerships can significantly amplify the impact of technological innovations in education. We are excited about the future possibilities this opens up for both Zephyr and the broader community interested in supercomputing and STEM education.

Further information

Wee Archie:
https://discover.epcc.ed.ac.uk/hardware/activities/2023/01/10/wee-archie

Author

Christodoulos Stylianou
EPCC PhD candidate
Research Engineer, CaSToRC – The Cyprus Institute (CyI)